- Action Line by Brendan Fernandes
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- The Fall: Calamity, Grace, and the Power of the Open
The Fall: Calamity, Grace, and the Power of the Open
Has anyone ever experienced this?
A quarterly review of media shaping my world. I share things I saw, I see and upcoming engagements where my work can be seen.
The Studio Museum in Harlem reopens this fall, returning after years of absence. Its new walls echo with history - both triumphant and temporary - of the Harlem Renaissance and the artists who built worlds as fragile as they were grand. Kerry James Marshall’s portraits in “The Histories” live in these crosscurrents, speaking to communities who must fight to be seen.
My own fall - hamstring injury, ballet dreams gone - was supposed to mark an ending. Instead, collapse shaped everything I create now, a reminder that vulnerability and endurance are the roots of reinvention.
This September’s US Open women’s final was not just a victory, but the art of losing with grace. Amanda Anisimova, undone on the court, chose honest vulnerability in her speech: “I didn’t fight hard enough for my dreams today.” There was struggle, doubt - the exposed reality behind every performance.
What emerges, whether in art, sport, or life, is not the illusion of effortlessness but the resilience of standing back up. Harlem’s artists, veterans, survivors, and those rebuilding themselves against all odds - like the Venezuelan makeup artist, exiled and reborn - teach that grace is not the absence of pain but the fierce beauty shaped by it.
Just let me know if I’m way off base and if this has us using articles in a Brendan Fernandes universal-truth way. It moves from the US Open to a gay Black veteran in the Korean War - a totally new approach. If this direction resonates, I’ll keep pushing; if not, we recalibrate.
ACTION LINE: THE FALL
It is vital to stay aware of what is happening at an institutional level within the greater cultural conversation. The Museums Association is a great resource, and this essay helps ground some facts in the post‑cultural, post‑history world we’re living in - a sharp opinion piece.
GRAB ATTENTION
2 posts that caught our eye
The MET’s must-see show. Ends on October 26th!
As an artist whose work often sits in the space of - or with - other creators, I have to say, the presentation here, the sheer exhibition design, is what truly elevates the conversation. Torkwase Dyson's structures for "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" aren't just walls or plinths. They are an entire framework!
Dyson has used space and structure to physically hold and tell the complex, layered narratives of Black identities and style. It’s a powerful act - a beautiful, dynamic way of collaborating with the garments and stories themselves. Get in there before it's gone! #SuperfineStyle
Thank you Cultured Magazine for capturing “The Rite”, at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Your coverage helps us explore the question: how do we navigate confinement?
